‘Downton Abbey’ Mini-Cap: Who Has It Better? The Rich People Of Downton Or One Cute Little Boy?

Downton Abbey is finally coming to an end. To salute the internationally-acclaimed drama, we’re examining one particularly potent scene or storyline from each episode in the sixth and final season.

Things seem calm again at Downton Abbey. After the shocking events of last week’s “red dinner,” tranquility has been restored, romance is in the air, and the biggest battles are over who will rule over the local hospital. And yet, the real world keeps crashing into Downton.

This week the “real world” was in the guise of an unprecedented “open house.” For one day only, the house would be open to the public for a nominal fee. Ticket sales would go to the hospital fund and the rabble could see how the other half lives. It’s a novel idea for the 1920s that turns the once esteemed Crawleys into a roadside attraction, for that is what they are now. They’re not just upper class, but relics of a bygone era*.

There are moments of wry comedy during the open house, when it becomes blisteringly obvious that the family hasn’t the faintest knowledge of the history they steward, but there’s one particularly delightful moment that serves as a metaphor for Downton Abbey‘s central thesis. A sassy little boy invades Lord Grantham’s sick chamber and the two briefly hit it off debating who has it better.

Even though it seems to us that the privileged lord is the obvious winner of this debate, the boy is skeptical because the house isn’t “comfy” enough. He doesn’t understand why they don’t get rid of the onus of the big house in exchange for something more manageable and cozy. He’s more concerned with creature comforts and the freedom to be frank with one’s emotions. Robert doesn’t have a good enough answer except to say that “we like what we know.” Showrunner Julian Fellowes seems to want to argue that both ways of life have their charms and their frustrations. Neither side had it better.

Yet we know this is complete bullshit. The Crawleys still live a better life than the folks downstairs. They have access to better food, drink, housing, education…the works. Lady Edith could escape to Switzerland and manage a major rouse to keep Marigold close by. Contrast that with what happened to Ethel. Furthermore, consider how Anna and Bates are only now expecting a child because Lady Mary gave them access to her doctor in London.

Still it’s true that many of the old systems keeping the classes separate are melting away. Branson is a welcomed equal in the house, Mary can cavort in London ally with a dashing race car driver, and the servants downstairs can attain real advancement. The only person left in the lurch is Thomas.

“You are the underbutler, a post that is fragrant with memories of a lost world. No one is sorrier to say it than I am, but you’re not a creature of today.” That’s what Carson — Carson! Of all people! — tells a frustrated Barrow. Why so? Why is it Barrow who is lost and not Carson?

Well, what precisely is an underbutler? Merriam-Webster merely defines it as a “butler’s assistant,” but it’s far more than that. It’s a relic of a time when the nobility were simply better than everyone else. It wasn’t just that they were wealthy or blue blooded. They were surrounded by sycophants and servants. While a butler will always have a job to do in the big house — somebody has to clean that place up — an underbutler won’t because he is just another symbol of a culture defined by strict hierarchy.

Make no mistake: Downton Abbey isn’t skipping merrily towards some progressive socialist future. Fellowes still wants to make sure that the high class stays better off than the rabble below. He just wants to break down the walls between the two. His new world is one where there is no stark separation of high and low, but a flirtatious intermingling of the two. So both sides get the best of both worlds.

*This is an interesting place to note that showrunner Julian Fellowes is long-time friends with the Earl of Carnarvon, the man who actually owns and lives in Highclere Castle (aka the real Downton Abbey). For a fee, you can visit the Castle — and that’s reportedly the family’s primary source of income.